Reading Lab
Book Review
Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini
An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes the reader from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is an unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant. This beautifully crafted novel is set in Afghanistan, a country that is in the process of being radically changed. The story reflects “the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption. It is also about the power of fathers over sons - their love, their sacrifices, their lies.”
The first Afghan novel to be written in English, The Kite Runner tells a poignant story against a backdrop of history that has not been told in fiction before. “But just as it is old-fashioned in its narration, it is contemporary in its subject - the devastating history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years.” Emotionally gripping as it is tender, The Kite Runner definitely grabs the reader’s attention so much so that one almost forgets this is a novel and not a memoir. The author manages to provide an educational and eye-opening account of a country's political turmoil, while also developing characters whose heartbreaking struggles and emotional triumphs resonate with readers long after the last page has been turned.
Cheryl Altman
Faculty
Accredited by the
Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges, of the
Western Association of Schools and Colleges